Ola my friend! The State Fair of Texas ended yesterday – Sunday, October 22, 2023. Here’s my recap of visiting the 18th day of the fair – Thursday, October 19, 2023. You know I had to go on a “Thrifty Thursday” to see what it was all about. How “thrifty” are Thrifty Thursdays? Either way, I was so excited to try my list of the new foods at the fair this year that I forgot to bring my bag to carry the food, aluminum foil, and food containers just in case. However it all worked out.
So what did I end up eating? Ok here’s my list of foods and drinks I planned to get at the fair last Thursday. This list came from my 2023 Texas State Fair Foods Ranking list here. And yes my scoring influenced what I planned to try for sure. But read the rest of the post to find out what I actually ended up getting!
| Food Name | Food Vendor | Ticket Count |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey Ribs | Vandalay Ind. | 20 |
| Trail-ade | Ms Ruth’s/Ruth’s Tamale House | 14 |
| Deep Fried Birria Bomb | Tony’s Taco Shop | 15 |
| Steak Bowl | Stiffmeisters Pub & Grub | 10 |
| 4 | 4 | 59 |
Table of Contents
- State Fair of Texas Day #18 Recap: New Fair Foods
- New Fair Food #1: Deep Fried Birria Bomb
- New Fair Food #2: Deep Fried Turkey Ribs
- New Fair Food #3: Steak Bowl
- New Fair Food #4: Trail-ade
- Thrifty Thursday Discounts
- Random State Fair of Texas Snaps
- There’s Still Time to Take the Best Foods at the State Fair of Texas Poll!
- Until Next Time
State Fair of Texas Day #18 Recap: New Fair Foods
Purpose: My goal for this visit was to try a few of the new foods at the fair this year
Duration: Thurday October 19th between 3PM and 4PM
Total Tickets Purchased: 60
Total Tickets Left: 5 (1 ticket from Oct 19th and 4 tickets from Oct 8th)
New Fair Food #1: Deep Fried Birria Bomb
Food Vendor: Tony’s Taco Shop
Total Tickets Used: 15
My Review: The deep fried birria bomb was my favorite dish out of all the foods I tried at the State Fair of Texas this year. Birria is a Mexican soup/stew made of meat (goat, beef, lamb) and spices (cinnamon, cumin, bay leave…). That’s it, no veggies.
Visual: ok, so the birria bomb was a beef filled crust molded into a ball and deep fried. The beef was shredded. The crust was fried to a crispy and golden brown perfection. It was the right balance of crunchy – not too hard and not soft. Unless that is your thing, you do not want fried food that is soft. It defeats the purpose of frying the food.
The presentation was appealing. The plate came with two deep fried birria bombs and a side of guacamole, diced onions and tomatoes and cilantro, and a slice of lime. There was a cilantro lime type sauce drizzled on top of the birria bombs. It also came with a small container of birria broth. The birria broth looks like sauce initially but when you dip the birria in the sauce then you can see it’s a semi-thick broth.
Taste: the birria bomb concept is simple and reminds me of deep fried sushi rolls. The beef was lightly seasoned and tender. There was a second mystery ingredient in the birria bomb. It reminds you of mash potatoes but I think it was hominy. But I am not sure. The combination of the beef and this mystery ingredient was tasty and interesting.
So this is how I ate it … I took a bite just to taste the birria bomb by itself – delicious. Then I added a little guacamole, onions, tomatoes, lime juice and dipped it in the birria broth – DELICIOUS!
Aroma: the aroma was cheerful because of the citrus and diced veggies. It will get you excited to indulge in fried food LOL.
I so so look forward to making goat birria stew in the future 😋.
My rating: 4.5/5
New Fair Food #2: Deep Fried Turkey Ribs
Food Vendor: Vandalay Ind.
Total Tickets Used: 20
My Review: the turkey rib were pretty good. I definitely want to try making deep fried turkey ribs myself in the future. The turkey rib was fried in front of me so it was fresh out of the grease. It was short wait of about 7 minutes.
Visual: the turkey rib was deep fried to a nice golden brown and came in a large basket filled with crispy french fries. The vendor gave me bbq sauce, pickles, cranberry sauce, and gravy. The turkey rib was a nice size too. I believe it’s the turkey shoulder.
Taste: The batter was crispy and well seasoned. Some of the batter underneath the top layer didn’t get fried though but it didn’t distract me too much from the overall taste, thankfully. The turkey was so tender and moist. So good. I couldn’t stop eating it. The pickles and bbq sauce were the perfect condiments and hit the spot. The bbq sauce was so good.
Aroma: the bbq sauce is all I can smell
My Rating: 4.2/5
New Fair Food #3: Steak Bowl
Food Vendor: Stiffmeisters Pub & Grub
Total Tickets Used: 10
My Review: The steak bowl was so good! This was the only thrifty Thursday deal I could get last Thursday. They gave me a “thrifty” bowl for $10 LOL. I enjoyed the rest the next day for breakfast and it was amazing. My goodness.
Visual: a bowl of layered mashed potatoes, whole miniature mushrooms, sauteed onions and green bell peppers, topped with grilled well-done steak cubes.
Taste: The steak was tender, juicy and well-seasoned. This bowl of goodness was delicious from start to end.
Aroma: one of my favorite aromas – good ole fashioned bbq at a summer cook-out.
My Rating: 4.2/5
New Fair Food #4: Trail-ade
Food Vendor: Ms Ruth’s/Ruth’s Tamale House
Total Tickets Used: 14
My Review: the trail-ade was the healthiest item in my ranking and I was so eager to try it. The trail-ade is a lemonade blend that includes cucumbers, fresh summer fruits, and mint. It was very sweet and had a concentrated note to it as if it was meant for water to be added. It came in a roughly 8 oz clear cup shaped like a cowboy boot. There were fresh raspberries at the bottom of the and a fresh mint leaf on top. The cup was full of ice which I did not like at first but ended up appreciating because of how sweet it was.
I completely missed the cucumber and the lemonade flavors. Now this was the first thing I put in my mouth after fasting the first part of the day so I made sure to have clear taste buds. It was very sweet and tasted mostly like raspberries. I enjoyed this sweet drink (with ice) as I walked around the fair looking for the steak bowl and the deep fried turkey ribs. Overall it was pretty good but not a WOW like I was anticipating for it to be.
My Rating: 3.7/5
Thrifty Thursday Discounts
Random State Fair of Texas Snaps
There’s Still Time to Take the Best Foods at the State Fair of Texas Poll!
State fair of texas 2023
Your voice matters. Take a brief poll to share your valuable input on the foods at the fair.
There’s still time to take the Best Foods at the State Fair of Texas Poll! The survey ends Saturday, October 28, 2023 midnight CDT. We look forward to your feedback and appreciate your participation.
Until Next Time
Well, what do you think? I ended up getting everything that I planned to get on my list. Yay! One thing I wish I tried was the Pineapple soft serve. It sounded so refreshing and satisfying on a warm busy day. Which new foods at the fair did you enjoy at the fair this year? Please drop a comment below or email me. I would love to hear your feedback and/or stories. If you need a fun detox salad idea after all the indulging at the state fair this year then check out this light and energizing Tabbouleh salad.
Well, I will take my leave for now. I look forward to our time together again soon. Be inspired to have an appetite to Live and Live well.
Adaeze
wwd.com
November 17, 2023 at 8:45 pmThank you for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your further post thank you once
again.
Adaeze
November 20, 2023 at 7:21 pmThank you very much Raymond! I am glad you enjoyed the post.